Claudette strengthened into a tropical storm again overnight as it neared the coast of the Carolinas. The forecast calls for the storm to douse the region for several more hours Monday, with some flooding possible, before heading into the western Atlantic Ocean.
The storm is moving east-northeast at 25 mph with maximum sustained winds at 40 mph with higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 5 a.m. advisory. It was about 65 miles east-southeast of Raleigh, North Carolina, and about 120 miles north of Cape Fear.
Tropical-storm-force-winds extend up to 140 miles from the center. A tropical storm warning remains in effect from Cape Fear to Duck, North Carolina, and also for Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds.
Claudette, the third named storm of the season, might get even stronger Monday as it moves over the western Atlantic Ocean. The forecast shows it becoming a post-tropical cyclone and dissipating Tuesday, just south of Nova Scotia.
The storm made landfall in Louisiana on Saturday and drenched several states over the weekend, including Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. At least 13 people were killed in Alabama when the system was a tropical depression, including eight children in a van from a youth home for abused or neglected kids, and a man with a baby in another vehicle, according to The Associated Press.
Forecasters are also monitoring a tropical wave that was about 1,000 miles east of the Windward Islands early Monday and is expected to move west at 10 to 15 mph.
The disturbance was producing thunderstorms in the area and has a 10% of formation through the next five days. The hurricane center says it will meet upper-level winds Thursday, which should make it less conducive for further organization.
This article will be updated.